Clouded Judgement
by LunarisAmor
Summary: My version of 'Yes, Dude, Yes' What if Mordecai never told Margaret how he felt? What if he ended up falling for CJ? What if she tried to win him back? Mostly Mordecai/CJ/Margaret but with some hints of Rigby/Eileen
1. I Just Came to Say Hello

Mordecai sighed as he and his best friend Rigby headed for the Coffee Shop, their feet hitting the cement silently. Benson and Skips had convinced him that he should go tell Margaret how he felt. But he was so nervous, his feathers were drenched with sweat and his eyes were darting back and forth. Maybe he shouldn't go. Margaret was engaged. Telling her how he felt would be wrong, wouldn't it?

"Are you ready?" Rigby asked the tall blue jay, a smile on his face.

"I guess so..." Mordecai said silently, more to himself than to Rigby.

"Don't worry. If you pass out or have a heart attack or something, I'll call an ambulance."

Mordecai didn't even try to retort this time. "Thanks."

Across the street, three girls were exiting a clothing store. Two of them were human, a blond and a brunette. The third was a cloud humanoid in an orange-and-white tank top, khaki shorts, and black ankle boots. She had her cloudy hair in a ponytail. Her name was 'Cloudy Jane,' but she went by CJ. "So then he asked me to the movies." She finished telling the story to her two friends. "It was awkward, but cute, you know?"

The three girls laughed together. When CJ opened her eyes again, she saw a familiar blue jay and a raccoon on the other side of the street. She gasped and pointed. "That's him!" CJ waved to her friends and walked across the road. "I'm going to go say hi real quick."

As they came to the steps to the Coffee Shop, Mordecai took a deep breath. "OK. I'm going to go in, say hi, tell her how I feel, and then it'll all be OK. Simple as that, right?"

"Yeah." Rigby nodded, still smiling. "Unless you puke or something."

"Not cool, man."

"Hey, Mordecai!"

Mordecai and Rigby turned to the sound of the blue jay's name. CJ was walking across the road and stopped in front of the two of them. "Hey!"

"Oh! Hey, CJ!" Mordecai beamed widely at the cloudy humanoid.

"You going in for a drink?" CJ pointed up at the large 'COFFEE SHOP' sign, the brown wood bright in the sun.

"Oh, what?" Mordecai took a moment to glance up at the sign before shaking his head. "Oh, no. I'm going to go tell Marg-"

Rigby kicked his shin. Mordecai grabbed his foot with a yelp as CJ's eyes widened. "What'd you do that for?"

Rigby pulled Mordecai down to whisper to him. "You can't tell CJ you're about to go tell another girl how you feel like that! It'll crush her flat!"

"Then what do I tell her?"

"Break it to her easy."

Mordecai looked back up at a confused CJ. He began to sweat. He had to think of something. Something fast. "I'm a...I was...um..." He glanced between the Coffee Shop door, a waiting CJ, and a prompting Rigby. "I...was looking for you!"

"You were?" CJ and Rigby said at the same time. CJ more happily, Rigby more annoyed.

"Yeah!" Mordecai's smile became plastered. "I was going to see if you were still on for _Love Bot 2_ tonight."

"Of course I am!" CJ beamed and looked back at her friends as they were still waiting. "Well, I got to go. Bye, Mordecai!"

"Bye, CJ!" Mordecai waved her goodbye. He looked down, still smiling, but frowned when he saw that Rigby was glaring at him. "What?"

Rigby folded his furry arms. "Dude."

"I'm sorry, OK, man?" Mordecai said angrily, more at himself. "What was I supposed to say? 'I'm about to go tell Margaret how I feel?'"

"Tell me what you feel about what?"

Mordecai let out a small scream and span around to see Margaret right behind him, smiling as usual. "Oh! Hi, Margaret!"

"What did you want to tell me?" Margaret inquired, her smile fading ever-so-slightly.

"Uh...I...um...I..." A pool of sweat was forming at Mordecai's feet. "I...wanted to tell you...how I felt..." He glanced down at Rigby, who was prodding his hands at him. "About...The weather! It's really nice, sunny, cloudy, warm." He chuckled nervously, and Margaret looked confused.

There was a long, confused silence.

"OK, bye." Mordecai ran down the street back in the direction of the Park.

Margaret looked down at Rigby. "What was that all about?"

Rigby shrugged. "I have no idea."


	2. I'm Not Over You

"What WAS that?!" Rigby shouted as he slammed open the door to their room. Mordecai was on his bed, knocking his head against the wall so roughly there was a dent forming in the paint.

"I don't know, man!" Mordecai shouted desperately, throwing his wings up. "I lost it, OK?"

"No, really? Dude, you were so close. Why did you flip?"

"I dunno, dude." Mordecai sighed, his eyes darting to the CD player like he wanted to turn on his Depression Song again. "I felt all confident at first, but then CJ came, and then I...I..." He started hyperventilating, his chest heaving and falling rapidly.

"OK, whoa man. Calm down."

Mordecai took a deep breath and stopped.

"OK. Why can't you just be friends with CJ and like Margaret at the same time?"

"Because it feels wrong. PLUS Margaret's about to get married, so it'd be, like..._dirty."_

"You're hopeless, man." Rigby shook his head wearily. "But yeah, I guess you're kind of right. But why are you going to go see _Lovebot 2 _tonight with CJ if you still like-" he stopped at Mordecai's glare. "...Have questionable feeling for Margaret?"

"What's wrong with going to a movie with CJ?" Mordecai asked innocently, his feathery forehead crinkled. "It's just a movie."

"A ROMANTIC movie."

"The _Lovebot _movies aren't romantic at all!"

"Dude. It says LOVEbot. Anything that has the word 'LOVE' in it is romantic, I've told you before."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember." Mordecai sighed, sitting up on his bed and putting his feet on the wooden floor heavily. "But still, it's just two friends going to a movie."

"Yeah, right." Before Mordecai could retort, Rigby rose a furry eyebrow. "Isn't the movie at eight?"

"Yeah, CJ's picking me up. Why?"

"It's, like, seven fifty."

_**"OH, WHAT?!" **_ Mordecai sprang up from the bed and dashed down the hall to the bathroom. As he ran down, he accidentally hit Skips' shoulder. The yeti rose an eyebrow as the blue jay slammed the bathroom door loudly.

Skips turned to Rigby, who was smirking cockily. "What's up with him?"

"He's going to go see a _romantic _movie with his girlfriend."

"FRIEND! SHE'S MY FRIEND AND IT'S JUST A MOVIE!" Mordecai yelled through the wood of the door.

"Yeah, it's so romantic." Rigby whispered to Skips so Mordecai wouldn't hear.


	3. I Won't Give Up

Needless to say, Mordecai panicked when he saw how late he was. First he had to untangle his misshapen feathers, by which he accidentally plucked out a few. Then he brushed his beak madly and nearly swallowed the brush. And after THAT, he took in a swallow of mouthwash, and nearly drowned himself. When he was done, it was 7:50.

Just when he got done, the doorbell rang. He practically _flew _down the stairs. Rigby and Skips stood at the top of the stairs, eager to watch how Mordecai handled it. Clearing his through, Mordecai turned to the door and opened it.

"Benson?" Mordecai said in confusion. He could tell the gumball-machine was miffed. Not angry, he would have been red from his head to his toes, but he was definitely very annoyed.

"Yeah, it's me." scoffed Benson. Just as he was about to say something else, though, he looked over Mordecai. He looked very different, not only from his Depression-State, but also he looked cleaner than usual, more tidy and freshened up. "Why do you look so..._Tidy?_"

"I-"

"Hey Mordecai."

All attention turned to the doorway. CJ was standing there, a friendly smile on her face. She hadn't gone overboard with the date outfit, but she did change. She kept her cloudy hair the same, but she was now wearing a red halter top, white shorts, and sneakers instead of her usual outfit. Mordecai had to admit, she looked really nice. Seeing that she had missed the walking gumball machine, she waved. "Hi. I'm CJ."

Benson rose an eyebrow at her an let out a "Hi...?" Before turning back to Mordecai. "What's going on here?"

Mordecai was confused. He hadn't done anything to upset Benson (_recently_) so why was he so angry with him? "CJ and I are going to go see _Lovebot 2_ tonight, and-"

"Oh, no, you're not." interrupted Benson, looking angrier than before. "I told you after you talked to Margaret, you had to clean the Golf Cart, and it is still FILTHY. You're not going anywhere until you clean it."

"But Benson-!"

"Is something wrong?" CJ asked, frowning in worry. "Because we can reschedule if there's a problem."

"I'm afraid Mordecai won't be joining you tonight." Benson said politely to the cloudy girl. "He had to learn to stop being such a lazy-"

"He can go."

All three of them turned around to see Rigby stepping down the stairs, with Skips skipping closely behind. "Me and Skips can clean the cart. Mordecai can go ahead."

"Rigby," Mordecai said guiltily. "You don't have to. I can just stay here and-"

"Nah, go ahead." Rigby waved him off. "I don't have any plans for tonight. Besides, Skips is really fast at cleaning the Gold Cart."

"The trick is to use vegetable oil." Skips said proudly. "Gets rid of the bacteria."

"Aw thanks, guys!" Mordecai, beaming, turned to CJ. "It's cool. We'd better hurry, the movie starts in seven minutes."

And they both ran to CJ's Cloudmobile and drove down the lane. Benson watched him go and rose an eyebrow as he did so. He turned to Skips and Rigby. "Wait, I thought Mordecai liked Margaret."

Rigby nodded. "He does."

"He chickened out, didn't he?"

Rigby nodded again.

"Passed it off for the weather?"

"Yeup."

"He is so tragic..."


	4. Hey There Delilah

Mordecai and CJ sat in the dim light of the theater. They had only gotten there three minutes before. The movie wasn't playing yet, instead there was only commercials for stuff like fountain drinks and snacks and trailers for movies such as _The Hobbit _and _Rise of the Guardians. _Then the movie title appeared in bright red letters: _Love Bot 2. _As CJ put her soda down from her lips, her hand fell on his wing. But she didn't pull away. And for some reason, Mordecai didn't seem to mind.

* * *

Rigby dipped the sopping wet rag into the basin of vegetable-oil-filled soap. Then he began to rub away at the dirt on the wheels of the cart. Of course, he didn't LIKE washing the cart, even if Skips was really fast at doing it. But he knew Mordecai needed help with this.

"Hey Rigby."

Rigby turned in surprise. Eileen was standing a few feet away, dressed in a frilly brown skirt and a spotted cream-colored blouse.

"Oh, hey, Eileen." Rigby waved. Some time ago, he and Eileen weren't always on the same side. He used to think her annoying. But now he actually liked being around her. Eileen was hilarious and very interesting to speak with. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"Nah." Eileen waved him off. "Everything's fine. I hope. Margaret was worried about Mordecai and asked me to come and check on him. Is he here?"

"Nah." Rigby shook his head. "He's on a date."

Eileen smirked. _"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?"_

"Yeup." Rigby smirked. "Here name's CJ. He met her over a dating service."

"Wow." Eileen could only say. "HE signed up for a DATING SERVICE?"

"Actually, I signed him up." Rigby smiled. "He had to go along with it."

Eileen giggled. "So, what are you doing?"

"Oh, me and Skips are cleaning the Golf Cart so Mordecai can go on his date. Right, Skips?" When there was no answer, Rigby turned around. "SKIPS!"

"Sorry, Rigby!" Skips's voice came down from the top floor of the house, over the sobs coming from the TV. "My soap opera's on! Season finale!"

Rigby growled.

"Do you need help?" Eileen offered kindly.

"Ah, nah, you don't have to-"

"No, seriously. It's fine. I don't have anything else to do, anyway."

Rigby beamed. "Hey, thanks!"

And so the two of them cleaned the golf cart, chatting away and laughing.


	5. Want U Back

Margaret picked up the last of the plates on the table, along with a few more mugs. Closing time at last. She hoped that Eileen would be here soon, she was driving her home. She walked over to the sink and dumped the plates in, turning on the water, wondering how Mordecai was doing. He was acting so strange, like there was something very important he needed to tell her but somehow he always dodged it. She just hoped he was OK.

"Hey, Margaret, I'm back," Eileen's voice rang out behind Margaret, along with the bell's chime from the door.

"Oh, hey, Eileen." Margaret turned the water from the sink off and turned to her friend. "How wa-AH!"

The sight of Eileen made her yelp. Eileen looked like a walking ball of soap and suds. A trail of soapy water followed her from the door. Eileen's glasses poked out from the ball of suds in an almost humorous way.

"Eileen, what happened?" Margaret asked in worry.

"Mordecai wasn't there, but Rigby was. And he was cleaning up the golf-cart and looked like he needed help, so I starting cleaning it with him."

"OK..." Margaret's forehead creased in confusion. "But why are you so...soapy...?"

"Oh, well, me and Rigby started a little water fight. It was just a bit of splashing and stuff at first." Eileen frowned and looked down at her sudsy hands. "But then everything got intense."

Margaret tossed her a towel. Eileen took it and began to wipe herself clean.

"Did Rigby say where Mordecai was?" Margaret asked.

"Yeah," Eileen said, wiping away at her shirt. "I think he said Mordecai was on a movie date with some girl named CJ."

_**"WHAT?"**_

* * *

Rigby pressed button after button on the game controller, fighting off the evil alien-thingies on the TV screen. After his little 'water fight' with Eileen, he had cleaned himself dry and decided to play a round of games, considering the golf-cart had been cleaned up in the downfire. There was the sound of the door creaking open. He turned and saw Mordecai, waving his wing to someone out the door. There was a sound of a car driving away, and then Mordecai shut the door.

"How'd it goooooooooooooooo?" Rigby asked, putting the game on pause.

"Great!" Mordecai said, surprising Rigby with how enthusiastic he sounded. "_Love Bot 2 _was _soooooooo_ cheesy. We spent the entire time making fun of it! CJ is hilarious!"

"Uh-huh..." Rigby rose a furry eyebrow in suspicion. Mordecai seemed REALLY happy. There was something...right. Not wrong, because that would be a bad thing, but right because it sounded like something good was happening. "Anything else?"

"Not much." Mordecai shrugged, a smile still on his face. "But we're planning on going to _The Chill Grill _tomorrow for lunch."

"I KNEW it!" Mordecai jumped as Rigby suddenly beamed and jumped up on the couch, pointing at Mordecai with both hands.

"What?" Mordecai asked innocently.

"You like CJ!" Rigby cheered, smiling wider.

"Wha-" Mordecai stared at his raccoon friend. "Dude, just because we're going out for lunch-"

"-and going on a movie date-" Rigby put in.

"-does NOT mean I like her." Mordecai finished.

"OK, so you DON'T like her."

"Yeah, but I mean I like her as in 'I like her' not as in 'I _like _her."

"Sure, bro, sure." Rigby smirked, and folded his arms.

"Whatever." Mordecai walked up the stairs, past Skips's room (which was playing the season finale as _Destinado Matador, _and Skips was bawling his eyes out at the moment), and into his room. Grumbling, he collapsed on his bed, so annoyed about Rigby. What did Rigby have to do with CJ? Absolutely nothing. Why didn't the just shut up about-

He glanced over at his phone. Reaching over, he saw that he had missed five messages. Surprised, he clicked on 'READ MESSAGES.'

**Margaret-9:28**

**Margaret-9:32**

**Margaret-9:38**

**Margaret-9:49**

**Margaret-9:57**

Needless to say, Mordecai was shocked. He sat straight up on the bed. He moved his hand to the 'READ' button. But for some reason, it moved over to the 'DELETE' button. For a minute, he just sat there on his bed, his hand hovering between the 'DELETE' and 'READ' buttons.

"HEY, MORDECAI!" Rigby's voice suddenly boomed through the doorway. "Come on! _Pirates of the Walking Dead _is on channel 28!"

Mordecai looked down at his phone for a moment. He clicked down on the button and ran downstairs, setting the phone down on the nightstand.

The phone's screen was lit, two words spread across.

**MESSAGES DELETED**


	6. We are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Mordecai walked down the street, knowing that _The Chill Grill _was not that far away now. He still felt weird from last night. Deleting Margaret's messages was something he never imagined he'd do. He felt guilty, but also relieved, knowing that he was already getting over Margaret, which seemed even more impossible. But he did it. Because he knew if he read the messages, he'd just go back to his Depression-State.

Just as he turned the corner, he crashed into someone.

"Oh, geez, I am so sorry! I wasn't-" That's when he saw who he crashed into:

Margaret.

_Dang it._

"Oh, hey, Mordecai!" Margaret greeted happily, like he hadn't crashed into her at all. But he noticed that when she smiled at him, her forehead was creased, like she was worried.

"Oh. Hi Margaret." And he didn't say it in his usual _OH-DUDE-IT'S-MARGARET-E'RYBODY-BE-COOL _way. He said it in a _Oh-it's-Margaret_ way. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much." Margaret rocked back and forth on the heels of her sneakers. "Just...uh...looking for you."

He wasn't happy. He was confused. "What?"

"Uh, well, the other day you were acting really weird and I sent Eileen to come check on you at the park but Rigby said you were on a date with a girl named CJ and I just wanted to make sure you were OK."

His forehead creased a lot lower. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well...uh..." Margaret stammered. "I mean, it's just...you and dating girls..."

Mordecai felt something strange poking his insides. "What are you saying?"

"Nothing, nothing! I just didn't think for you to be the kind of guy who would date other girls like th-"

"OTHER girls?" Mordecai exclaimed, making Margaret jump. "What do you mean, OTHER girls? We were never dating!"

"I know!" Margaret immediately regretted what she had been saying. "I just meant-"

"You think just because I liked you doesn't mean I'm allowed to move on?"

"M-Moredcai-?"

"No! Just stop, Margaret! Every time I tried to get over you, you always find one way to stop me. Well not this time. I am DONE with you, Margaret!"

And with that, he stormed past the female robin, leaving her speechless.


	7. Let it Go

Mordecai stormed into _The Chill Grill _with an angry heaviness to his step. He'd never been in here. The place was called _The Chill Grill _for a reason. One half of the restaurant was designed with snowflakes, frost, and icicle decorations, with blue floors and pure white booths. The other half was decorated with coals, fire, and lava decorations with a wooden floor and fiery red booths. In the Chill half of the restaurant, you could order anything cold that came to mind: ice cream, ice cream cakes, milkshakes, slushies, and so on. The Grill half served anything spicy or hot: salsa, curry, chili, hot chocolate, and rare meats (and water, of course.)

But he wasn't interested in the restaurant in any way at the moment. He felt so filled with fury. Like he was a pitcher and someone had poured bubbling fury right into him, spilling it over the lip carelessly. He was so infuriated. Margaret was engaged, and she was acting like she wasn't. He had just gotten over her, and she was telling him he couldn't be. She was a recurring nightmare.

"Mordecai!"

Mordecai lifted up his head. CJ was sitting in the Grill side of the restaurant, waiting for him patiently. Today she wore a red blouse with a frilly front, white cute-offs and red sneakers. He felt himself slightly relax. CJ he didn't have a problem with. Rigby was there to comfort him with Margaret, but whenever Mordecai ever said CJ to him, he'd go on a teasing streak. CJ felt like his best friend. Thinking about it, she was.

He walked over to her, sitting in the seat. The menu before him was shaped as a torch. When he sat down, a waitress in a fiery red dress with a flaming tulle hat. "What can I get you?"

CJ answered first. "Nachos with salsa, no guacamole, with water."

The waitress nodded and turned to Mordecai. "And for you?"

Mordecai let out a huff and passed the waitress the menu. "Just get me whatever."

The waitress nodded and took off.

CJ frowned down at the blue jay sitting across from her. "OK, what's the deal?"

Mordecai slumped down in his seat. This reminded him when he met CJ two days ago, and she immediately knew something was wrong, and they ended up being best friends. "I don't wanna talk about it?"

"You don't want to talk about it as in, it just feels bad," CJ said, "Or as in, it's a long story?"

"Long story." Mordecai said just as the waitress brought their food. CJ had a good-sized plate of nachos, topped with sour cream, olives, meat, and peppers, with a small bowl of hot sauce and a glass of water. The waitress had brought Mordecai a nice bowl of steaming chicken curry and water.

"I don't mind talking about it." CJ said, picking up a nacho and dipping it in the hot sauce.

Mordecai huffed. "OK, before Rigby signed me up on the Love Corral thing, there was this girl I really liked."

The only sign of surprise from CJ was that her eyebrows rose for half a second.

"A couple of days ago, I found out she was engaged."

CJ gasped. "Oh, Mordecai, I'm so-"

"It's not that." Mordecai said, not rudely. "I kept trying to get over her. And, well..." he glanced down, prodding his chicken with his fork.

"And...?"

"You know my friend Rigby, right?"

"The raccoon?"

"Yeah, well, he thinks we're dating. And he told the girl I like's friend and she told the girl I like. And now she just told me I can't date you."

CJ frowned, setting her half-drinken water down. "Well that seems pretty unfair."

"That's what I'm saying." Mordecai huffed loudly, setting down his fork with a clang. "She's acting like she _owns_ me or something."

"Why should that bother you?"

Mordecai looked up, confused. "What?"

"You already said that you were over her. So why should it bother you that she thinks you can't date other girls? She can't tell you what to do."

Mordecai was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't thought of it that way. He was over Margaret. Period. The end. Fin. So why should it bother him so much that she doesn't want him dating other girls? She couldn't tell him what he could and couldn't do. "Well...I hadn't thought of it like that."

"Exactly." CJ smiled in achievement. "She's just a thing of the past now, right?"

Mordecai sat up straight, smiling. "I guess she is."

"So are we good now?"

"Yeah," Mordecai smiled. For just a second, time seemed to stand still. CJ looked like a form of snow against blood, the way she was seated against the red booth's chair. She shone out like a bright light. She looked...pretty. Not that he thought she wasn't pretty before, but a few minutes ago, she was like a little flower: delicate and lovely. Now she was like a star: bright and dazzling. But just a second later, the moment was over, and he picked up his fork. "We're good."


	8. Jealous

Margaret headed back to the Coffee Shop, her shoulders drooped, her legs like noodles, and her eyes blank. To say that she hadn't expected Mordecai to yell at her was an understatement. She was completely shell-shocked that he went off on her. It was liked being punched in the gut.

But looking back, she was sort of telling him he couldn't date other girls. Not that she had intentionally meant to say it. She just thought it odd for Mordecai to be going out with a girl that he had met on the internet. Mordecai and internet-dating was like fire and water: they just didn't go together. And yet, he was dating a girl named CJ.

But perhaps CJ was a great girl. Maybe she was kind and sweet and caring, and liked playing video games and having fun just like Mordecai. For a split second, Margaret had a fleeting thought of CJ being cruel, uncaring, and bossy, but she shook it off, knowing that Mordecai would NEVER date her if she was like _that_.

The door's bell rang as Margaret walked through the doorway into the Coffee Shop. Just as she walked in, she saw Eileen set a plate of apple pie onto the table. Margaret looked at the customer and was mildly surprised to see it was Rigby.

"Hey, Margaret." Eileen waved to her best friend.

"Hey, Eileen. Hey, Rigby." Margaret stepped down the small stairwell to the table. "Rigby, I thought you worked on Fridays?"

"I do." Rigby answered after swallowing a mouthful of apple pie. "But Benson is having a meeting with Mr. Maellard today."

Margaret nodded in understanding. "So you didn't have any work to do?"

"Nah, Benson made me leave so I wouldn't mess anything up."

"Oh."

"Hey, Margaret, can you help me out with the sugar?" Eileen called from the kitchen.

Margaret stepped through the doorway and saw her beaver-friend struggling to lift up a very heavy sack of sugar so that she might refill the nearly-empty sugar container on the counter. Margaret helped her lift it up, step over to the container, and set it on the counter.

"Thanks." Eileen said before going to take out the freshly-baked bluberry muffins from the oven.

"No problem." Margaret said, filling up a measured cup, filling it with sugar and dropping it into the container.

"So how did talking with Mordecai go?" Eileen asked.

Rigby, who had heard the entire conversation, spoke through a mouthful of apple pie. "Why did she need to talk to Mordecai?"

"She's jealous because Mordecai's going out with CJ." Eileen smirked.

Rigby beamed like Christmas had come early. "Oh, _what?_"

"I'm not jealous." Margaret scoffed, having already filled a fourth of the sugar container. "And it didn't go well."

"What did he do?" Eileen asked in worry.

"He went off on me because I was 'telling him he wasn't allowed to date other girls.'" Margaret scoffed, using her free hand to put air quotes.

"W-You _said_ that?" Rigby stammered, baffled as he nearly choked on his pie. Margaret was one to speak her mind, but still...

"I NEVER said that!" said Magaret, half the sugar container filled. "I was just worried about him. He just isn't the one to date girls through dating sites, you know?"

Rigby, hearing the words 'to date girls through dating sites' tried to look as innocent as possible as he bit away at the last fourth of pie.

"That doesn't sound like Mordecai." Eileen said, glancing back at Rigby, knowing HE had actually introduced CJ to Mordecai (in a way.) "But you know, he is fragile. Maybe you should have approached more slowly?"

"How would I have approached 'more slowly?'" Margaret asked, closing the lid on the sugar container and closing up the sugar sack.

"Well, did you just say 'hi' and bring up CJ?" Rigby offered in place of Eileen.

"I wanted to talk a bit more before bringing it up, but he looked like he was in a hurry." Margaret explained as she lifted the sugar sack up.

"Where was he going?" Eileen asked.

Before Margaret could respond with an 'I don't know' Rigby spoke up. "He was meeting up with CJ at _The Chill Grill."_

Margaret didn't gawk or gasp or show any signs of surprise. "He's on a date with her now?"

"Yeah." Rigby nodded.

Margaret didn't say anything. Instead, she simply carried the sugar sack back into the supply room.

"She's so jealous." Eileen and Rigby said at the exact same time.


	9. I Don't Care

Mordecai shut the door behind him as he entered the park's House. When he got inside, he was mildly surprised to see that no one was in sight before he remembered that today was Mr. Maellard and Benson's meeting. Everyone had the day off. He stepped into the kitchen, grabbing a sticky note and a permanent marker. After scribbling down _MORDO _on the paper, he stuck it on the take-out plate holding his leftovers from _The Chill Grill _and put it in the fridge. No point in staying here. But what was there to do now? It was only two o'clock, anyway. The meeting would be over at five. No way was he going to the Coffee Shop.

He was so deep in thought he jumped incredibly high when a voice spoke out. "Hey, man."

He glanced over his shoulder. "Oh. Hey, Rigby."

"How'd it gooooooooooo?" Rigby said in his usual _CJ-Mentioning _voice.

"Fine. We talked and we ate." he smirked when he saw the flicker of disappointment in Rigby's eyes.

"Oh." Rigby snorted instead.

"What about you? Where have you been?" Mordecai asked.

"Coffee Shop. So, listen-"

"I would think you'd know why I snapped at Margaret, of all people." huffed Mordecai as he turned to his raccoon friend. "I was just tired, OK? I don't wanna-"

"It's OK, dude, I know."

Mordecai gave his friend a questioning look. "You do?"

"Yeah. You've been bummed out all week and you needed a break. It's OK, dude, we all snap at some point."

"Oh." Mordecai's voice showed all his surprise. "Uh...OK. Thanks for understanding..."

"Bros are bros, bro." smirked Rigby. Then he turned a bit more serious. "But hey, Margaret's kinda freaked out, y'know. Maybe you should apologize."

"Yeah, I will." nodded Mordecai. "I lost it. I'll apologize later."

"Now, with that matter out of the way..." Rigby's smirk grew into a smile. "Margaret's totally jealous, bro. She was soooo annoyed with you and CJ."

He awaited a response from Mordecai, such as, "Oh, what?" or "No way."

Instead, Mordecai shrugged as if it were no big deal. "So?"

Rigby's eyes grew to the size of biscuits. "You...I mean...You don't care?"

"No."

"...Oh..." Rigby kicked at the nonexistent dust beneath his paw. "I just...you know, thought...I mean, you of all people-"

"It's all in the past now, bro." Mordecai gave a wave of his wing, passing it over. "Just forget about it. Hey, let's go to the Arcade. I'm bored."

"Uh. Yeah. OK."

Rigby stared after Mordecai as he walked out the doorway in complete surprise. "Well...Something new everyday..."


	10. Waiting for Tonight

"Dude, I so kicked your butt at _Space Invaders." _Mordecai smirked at his raccoon friend as the two made their way to the House.

"My hand was asleep for five seconds!" Rigby insisted, his tail fluffing out in anger.

"Five seconds that cost you the game." Mordecai smirked wider. Before Rigby had a chance to answer, the revving of a car engine interrupted them.

Their attention turned to a long black limousine right in front of the mansion. Next to the limousine, Benson was talking nervously. Mr. Maellard, the squat, wrinkled owner of the very park they worked in, was sitting in the limousine and obviously giving some harsh advice to Benson.

"...and if that stain is still in the carpet the next time I'm here, you'll be wiping it clean with your eyeballs!" With that last comment, the limousine sped away, leaving only a thick cloud of dust.

"Thank you, Mr. Maellard!" Benson called after the speeding vehicle. "I'll see you tonight!"

"Hey, Benson." Mordecai greeted as he and Rigby approached the walking gumball machine. "Are you OK?"

"I will be after tonight." sighed Benson, wiping away some sweat (unaware that the two employees were giving him confused looks.) "OK, I need you guys to go and call the others. We need to start getting ready for tonight."

Mordecai and Rigby furrowed their foreheads. "What do you mean?" Rigby asked.

Benson stopped at the bottom of the small staircase that led up to the House. "You know, for tonight."

"..."

"The Anniversary?"

"..."

Benson slapped his hand to his face. "Did you two _really _forget that the Park's One-Hundred-Twenty-Fifth Anniversary was tonight?"

"How were we supposed to remember?" Mordecai asked. Benson hadn't even said anything close to 'anniversary' in the past few weeks, he was sure.

"I wrote it on your hands."

Mordecai looked at his wing, while Rigby looked down at his paw. "Oh, hey, dude," Rigby said, "The Park's One-Hundred-Twenty-Fifth Anniversary is tonight."

They both looked up to see Benson giving them annoyed looks. "Sorry."

"Just call the others." Benson sighed, and stepped inside the Mansion.


	11. Party Tonight

The other employees of the Park came quicker than expected. In what seemed like no time at all, Mordecai, Rigby, Pops, Muscle Man, Hi Five Ghost, and Skips were all sitting on the steps, just like they always did when Benson had an announcement to make. Speaking of, Benson was standing in front of all of them, a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other.

"OK, as we all know, the Park's One-Hundred-Twenty-Fifth Anniversary is tonight." he said. "It's going to be pretty big, so we need to get the preperations started. OK, Mordecai and Rigby, you guys are in charge of decorations."

The blue jay and the raccoon let out one of their semi-famous "oooooooooooooh!" choruses.

"Hey, listen, you two, this isn't a birthday party. Mr. Maellard's going to be there, so the decorations need to be a bit on the fancy side." Benson reminded them.

"We were BORN fancy, Benson," Mordecai said casually, in a sort of British, snotty accent.

Benson gave him a look before continuing. "Right...Anway, Pops, you're going to be in charge of the refreshments."

At the news, the joyous son of the park-owner let out an excited giggle. "Oh, jolly good! I promised to make the most scrumptious selections!"

"Great. Skips, you're going to be at the door to accept invitations and letting everyone, OK?"

"No one's getting in without an ivitation." Skips assured him.

"OK, and Muscle Man, you and Hive-Five Ghost are in charge of entertainment. Alright, any questions?"

"Yeah. You know who ELSE is in charge of enter-"

"No one cares, Muscle Man. Listen, guys. All of you are invited to the party, but it's a very regal event, so I suggest you guys go ahead and get your tuxedos. Everyone is allowed to bring up to two guests, alright?"

"Aw, come on, why only two guests?" Rigby asked.

Benson rose his eyebrow at Rigby. "Might I remind you of the _Wedding Anniversary Fiasco?_"

Rigby sighed. "I remember..."

"Remember, the party is going to be all over the park. Guests arrive at the driveway and everything else goes on everyWHERE else. So when you get supplies, get a LOT of them. Hop to it." With that, the park manager drove off on the golf cart.

As everyone filed away, chatting about what they were going to do for preparations, Rigby turned to Mordecai. "Hey, are you going to invite CJ to the Anniversary tonight?"

Mordecai turned to him. "Should I?"

"Totally, dude. Chicks dig fancy parties."

"Alright. I'll invite her."


	12. I Don't Know How to Love Him

Rigby waited as the phone rang over and over, to Eileen's cell phone number.

Eileen, who was wiping a mug clean with a towel, picked up the phone and put it between her phone and shoulder. "Eileen here."

"Hey, it's Rigby."

Eileen smiled immediately. "Hi, Rigby, what's up?"

"Before I tell you, where's Margaret?"

"She's making another batch of cookies in the back. She should be done in a minute. What is it?"

"The park's One-Hundred-Twenty-Fifth Anniversary is tonight."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that. A bunch of people are going to it." How many people had said they were going? At least thirty.

"I was wondering if you and Margaret would like to come. We're allowed to bring two friends."

Eileen froze, with her hand inside the mug. "You're...asking me to go with you to the Anniversary with you?"

Rigby paused, a bit confused with what she was saying. "Yeah...you and Margaret."

Eileen paused for a long moment. She and Rigby would be going to a magnificent party together. Sure, with Margaret, but she was sure Margaret would probably go around solo or something. Would this be considered a date, or just a friendly invitation? "Yeah. Sure. I'd love to. LIKE to. WE would LIKE to go. With you. To the Anniversary."

"...OK...So, I'll see you at seven...?"

"Yes. Tonight. At seven. We'll be there. Me and Margaret. It's a date. I DON'T MEAN A **DATE **DATE. I mean, like, you know, a date."

"..."

"...OK, See you at seven." She turned the phone off and ran behind the counter, setting down the mug. She dashed into the kitchen, where she saw Margaret, getting two trays out of the oven. "Margaret!"

"Hey, Eileen, can you get the other tray?" Margaret said, nodding her head to the oven.

Eileen put on some protective gloves and took out the tray. The two girls headed back to the counter.

"Margaret, I need to tell you something."

"Go ahead," Margaret said, setting down one tray on the counter. With the other tray, she began to take off the cookies one by one so that they sat face-up beneath the counter.

"You know that Anniversary thing at the Park?" Eileen asked in a rush.

"The One-Hundred-Twenty-Fifth one?" Margaret inquired.

"Yeah, well Rigby asked me to go with him as a guest."

"Alright. Cool." Margaret said, picking up the other tray and setting up its cookies.

"No, not cool!" Eileen exclaimed.

"Oh. Uh, then that stinks?" Margaret paused in her cookie-loading in confusion.

"No, I mean it's good, but I have no idea what he meant!" Eileen cried, before stuffing a cookie into her mouth. "I mean, did he mean it as a date or as a friendly invitation?" Another cookie. "I don't want to act like it's a date if it's not!" Cookie. "But I don't want to act too friendly if it's not!" Cookie. "I mean, what if-"

"Eileen, it's not that I don't care, but you're going to eat yourself sick." Margaret interrupted politely.

"Oh. Sorry." Eileen handed her friend the tray. "But how do I act?"

"Don't 'act.' Just be like you usually are around Rigby." Margaret instructed. "If you 'act', it'll be obvious."

"Thanks, Margaret." Eileen said, turning to go back to work. She paused in her steps. "Oh, by the way, you're invited, too."

"OK, then we'll get our dresses after work."

"Excellent. But don't wear orange, OK? You look horrible in orange."

"I won't wear orange as long as you don't wear yellow."

"Will do."


	13. The Party Starts Now

The Park was magnificent.

Pops' house, which was usually so simple and casual, was now lit with yellow lights hidden in the bushes. The small stairs were decorated with little white candles. Bouquets of white snowflake flowers (Mrs. Maellard loved snow, so Mr. Maellard instructed white decorations) were set to match the tone. The windows were spray-printed white to imitate snow. The doorways were strung with crystal lines. An arc of silver and white balloons sat at the front of the steps. The trees were filled with silver paper lanterns.

Eileen and Margaret took it all in, with wide eyes and surprised faces. Promise to their word, neither wore yellow or orange. Margaret was wearing a simple black dress with a thin gold band around the waist. Eileen was wearing a one-shoulder, emerald green dress, with her hair free of its usual ponytail.

"They did all of this in a few hours?" Eileen asked in wonder. Margaret just shrugged.

The two girls stepped out of the cab (Eileen suggested a limo, but Margaret had to remind her about acting) and walked under the balloon arc, up the steps, and to the door. There, they came to a wooden stand with an open book, which Skips was standing behind. Of course, Skips couldn't find a tux to fit him, and now he simply wore a black bow tie and a pair of sleeve-cuffs.

"Names?" He asked them. He had never met either of them, and so did not recognize them.

"I'm Margaret, and this is Eileen." Margaret smiled kindly.

"Margaret?" Skips asked with a hint of surprise.

Margaret's smile was changed with confusion. "Yeah?"

"...Well that's a nice name. And here you both are." Checking off their names, he opened up the white velvet rope blocking their way.

The inside of the house was simply decorated, since the party wasn't really in there. There were just bouquets of white snowflakes, with the doorways lined with crystal strings. Margaret and Eileen walked through the living room, through the kitchen, and out the backdoor.

What they saw surprised them.

Each tree was decorated with silver paper lanterns. Poles of light were set up, decorated with snowy white ribbons. Each PERSON was dressed in nice dresses and pressed tuxedos. A dance-floor had been set out to the left for waltzing couples. Beside it, a handful of musicians (courtesy of Muscle Man and High-Five Ghost) played a nice tune.

A white canopy tent was set up to the right, with little Chrystal strings lining the hem. Underneath, there was a buffet of food. Pops wasn't kidding when he promised to pick 'scrumptious selections.' Mouth-watering foods lined the long table: hot chicken, steaming fish, boiling shrimp, sliced steak, grilled vegetables, potatoes, fruit, salad, French fries, and all other sorts of wonderful foods, all peppered, fried, boiled, cooked, and grilled. A nearby chef stood by in case more food was needed.

There were also wonderful desserts to follow the meal: ice cream, Jell-O, cake, pastries, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, pie, puddings, candies, cheesecakes, fruit, all enough for your stomach to growl even if you were completely full. There was even a cotton candy machine!

But the most amazing thing was the chocolate fountain. It stood in the center of the party area, and was just as big (if not bigger) than a normal fountain. Warm melted chocolate poured out from it, falling in cascades into the pool below. A curved table stood directly next to it, filled with fruit and marshmallows to hold under the cascade.

Margaret and Eileen gawked. It looked like a party for royals! Eileen's eyes wandered, and she snapped her mouth shut. Elbowing Margaret, she let out a whisper. "There he is!"

"Ow!" Margaret rubbed the spot where Eileen had elbowed her.

"Hey, you guys are here!" Rigby walked up to them, dressed simply in a black bow tie and (slightly large) jacket.

"We're here!" Eileen said, and mentally slapped herself for sounding so stupid.

"Can you guys believe we got this place set up in a few hours?" Rigby said, spreading out his arms to gesture.

"That's what I said when we first got here!" Eileen said, already feeling herself loosening up.

"Hey, Eileen, you need to see this!" Rigby took Eileen's wrist (she flushed) and pointed over to the musicians. "No matter what you do, they don't stop playing!"

Eileen turned to Margaret. "Is it OK...?"

"Go ahead. I'll probably just get something to eat." Margaret smiled.

She watched as her friends walked away, knowing for sure that Eileen ha-

"What are you doing here?"


	14. It's You

Mordecai stood behind Margaret, an eyebrow raised in question. For his formal 'attire,' he wore simple white cuffs and a black bow tie. Margaret felt a fraction of her sigh in relief. Well, he didn't look or sound mad.

Margaret found herself stuttering. "W-well, Rigby invited me and Eileen t-to come here. You know, as his two guests."

Mordecai mumbled something under his breath, so soft that Margaret couldn't hear him. There was a long, awkward silence. Margaret cleared her throat and smiled. "Well, you guys did a great job decorating!"

"Thanks." Mordecai said shortly.

Again, there was a silence. Mordecai obviously wasn't in the mood for talking.

"So..." Margaret avoided eye contact, thinking that Mordecai would glare at her in annoyance. "Who did you invite?"

"The God of Basketball." Mordecai pointed over to the chocolate fountain.

The basket ball-headed, cape-wearing god stood next to it, holding a marshmallow under the stream of chocolate. He looked up at them and smiled, "Evenin'."

Margaret and Mordecai waved back casually. After looking at the God of Basketball one more moment, Margaret turned back to Mordecai. "What about your other guest?"

"What now?"

"Your other guest." Margaret repeated. "The employees are allowed to invite two guests, right?"

"Oh, yeah, right." Mordecai paused for a moment. "Well-"

"Hey, Mordecai!"

Margaret looked behind Mordecai at the approaching girl. She was a cloud humanoid, with pure white skin and fluffy white 'hair' that was currently in a puffy side-bun. Ironically, the knee-length dress she wore was sky blue, with a sweetheart neckline and a silvery-white ribbon around the middle. Her skinny legs were covered in torn silver stockings that led into a pair of sky blue ballerina flats. She stood next to Mordecai and held up a little plastic cup filled with a sparkly pink liquid. "Dude, you have to try this stuff, it is the bomb!" As Mordecai took the cup from her hand, she caught sight of Margaret. "Oh, hey, who's your friend?"

Mordecai took a deep breath. "Margaret, this is CJ. CJ, this is Margaret."

Margaret stared at CJ. This was the girl that Mordecai was dating? Not that she had anything visually bad about her. Margaret actually thought she was really pretty, even more so in the dress. But she hadn't expected to meet her tonight. Then, with a mental slap to the face, she realized that she should have _known _CJ was going to be here. She and Mordecai were dating now, it would only be logical for her to be here.

"Nice to meet you." Thank goodness her voice didn't crack.

"You too," CJ said. "I don't think Mordecai's ever mentioned a Margaret before, how long have you known each other?"

Mordecai interrupted the question. "I've told you about her before. _Remember?_" He gave her a long, hard look.

Realization hit CJ's features like a baseball bat. _"Ooooooooh._"

Margaret, who felt like she was being ignored, asked, "What did he tell you?"

"Nothing much," CJ said quickly. "Just uh, that you were a good friend...and stuff..."

There was another heavy silence thick in the air. Just as no one seemed about to say anything, Rigby and Eileen came up, laughing like they had just seen a comedy act. "Mordecai, you have GOT to come see these musicians! They're like statues!"

Silence.

"Mordecai?" Frowning, Rigby looked between Mordecai, CJ, and Margaret. "..._oh..._"

"Hey, Mordecai! Help me with these!" Benson's voice called over to them. They all turned and saw the gumball machine setting up fallen paper lanterns back into the trees.

"Coming!" Mordecai ran over to help his boss.

The silence seemed even heavier. When no one seemed to speak up, Eileen pulled Rigby away. "Hey, why don't we go get something to eat?"

Rigby, who was obviously ignorant to what she was trying to do, beamed and ran off to the food tent. "Oh, yeah, I'm starving!"

Once again, there was a thick, heavy silence. The two girls avoided eye contact, staring at whatever they could. Neither spoke. Margaret sighed. Might as well be friends with her. "So, I've heard a lot about you?"

CJ didn't frown or smile. "Really?"

"Yeah, I hear you're a great person. I'm sure Mordecai is proud to be with you."

CJ smiled this time. "Thanks. I haven't really heard a lot about you, but I'm sure you're in a proud relationship too!"

Margaret frowned and cocked her head to the side. "What now?"

CJ frowned as well, then smiled again. Maybe Margaret had just forgotten about her engagement. She didn't know when it happened, and it was probably so much to take in that she forgot about it. "You know, how you-"

At that very exact moment, Mordecai came walking back over, smiling. "Hey, CJ, wanna go dance?" He didn't say it formally, but very casual and calm.

"You know it!" The two took off, leaving Margaret confused and unanswered.


	15. What Did I Do

Margaret stared at CJ and Mordecai as they danced to the music. The music was slow and classical, but they danced to it like it was an upbeat pop song, and this caused the more fancy, uptight people to glower in disgust.

Maybe CJ had heard wrong. Margaret was ninety-nine point-nine percent positive that she was NOT in a relationship. Margaret made a mental note to talk to her later.

It was at that exact moment that Rigby and Eileen walked up to Margaret's side. Eileen's plate was simple, grilled vegetables, a baked potato sprinkled with sage, and seasoned rice. Rigby's plate, on the other hand, was stacked to bizarre height, with basically everything that Eileen had and didn't have.

"So..." Rigby started awkwardly, "Is the cat-fight over."

Eileen smacked his arm. "Ow!"

"There wasn't a cat-fight, Rigby," Margaret sighed in exasperation. "But I am really confused."

"'Bout what?" Eileen asked as she took her fork and stabbed a grilled zucchini with her fork and set it in her mouth.

"CJ said I was in a relationship." Margaret said. But then she simply shrugged. "But she probably just misheard."

"But you are in a relationship." Rigby said through a mouthful of shrimp.

Eileen and Margaret both gave him question-mark looks. "What? No I'm-"

Before Margaret could speak any more, she was cut off by the clinking of silver against glass. All attention turned to Mr. Maellard, who stood in the center of the dance floor. The orchestra ceased playing, and all the talking of the guests silenced.

"In remembrance of my dear wife, Mrs. Maellard, I would like to commence a couples' dance." Mr. Maellard turned to the orchestra behind him. "Orchestra, if you will."

The orchestra commenced in a slow, soft song. Couples all around the party grabbed their partners and stepped over to the dance floor bashfully.

Margaret's eyes drifted over to CJ and Mordecai. Mordecai's eyes widened when the song began to play, and he looked over at CJ. Blushing, he held out a wing to her. CJ rolled her eyes with a smirk at him, and pulled him over to the dance floor, where she pulled them into the right position.

Rigby watched the couples dancing. His eyes went from Eileen, the dance floor, and back to Eileen. With a gulp, he turned to her. "Hey, Eileen. Do you wanna...you know, go and-"

_"I would love to!" _ without a squeal or a blush, Eileen pulled Rigby to the dance floor, making the plate in his hands fall to the grass.

Margaret smuled after them. With nothing else to do, she stepped over to the chocolate fountain, picked up a plate and a stick. Sticking a marshmallow on the end, she held it under the chocolate stream. Just as she did, her eyes drifted over to the right.

She froze completely.

CJ and Mordecai were no longer dancing. They still stood with his wings on her sides and her hands on his shoulders, but their feet remained still. They were staring into each others' eyes. In a way that made Margaret feel...weird.

But that's not what made her freeze. They were moving towards each other. And as Margaret watched, _their lips began to pucker._

At one moment, Margaret was looking at them.

The next moment, she was looking at the dial on the chocolate fountain.

Just a moment later, her wing dove for it.

_SPLORTCH!_

Mordecai and CJ yelled as the spray of chocolate splattered all over them and their clothes. The spray only went on for a moment before the stream of chocolate was simply falling onto the grass.

Margaret felt like a statue in a museum. Everyone was staring at her. The orchestra, who had stopped playing the song, gaped at her. Rigby and Eileen, who had not even started dancing, now stood stock-still, gawking. And everyone else was just gawping, their eyes wide and their jaws wide open.

_What had she done?_


	16. Apologize

_**"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"**_

Mordecai's voice was filled with such anger and fury that it made Margaret grimace. When she found her voice, she could only stutter. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean t-I don't know why-"

"What is your _deal?_" Mordecai spat at her. "Is it wrong for me to date someone THAT BADLY?!"

"No, of course not!" Margaret said, trembling with fear and guilt. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even mean to do that! It just happened before I could stop myself!"

"Whatever," Mordecai gave Margaret a glare so harsh it sent cold heat throughout her body. He turned to CJ, who looked like she had just taken a shower in chocolate syrup. "Come on, CJ. You need to get washed up."

With that, he led the cloudy humanoid away from the party.

The party went back to normal after that. The orchestra started playing again, a bit awkward at first, but you couldn't blame them. The guests went back to dancing and talking, but they still looked over their shoulders at Margaret. From the corner of her eye, Margaret could see Muscle Man, High-Five Ghost, Benson, Pops, and Skips (who was looking through the doorway of the house) hesitate before going back to work.

Rigby and Eileen approached the robin with caution.

"So..." Rigby started off awkwardly. "Did you have a muscle spasm, or...?"

"I don't know what just happened!" Margaret blurted out. "I didn't even mean to do that! It just happened! All I remember was that I saw them dancing and I was so _angry _all of the sudden, and then-"

She stopped talking when she noticed that Rigby and Eileen were giving her eyebrow-lifted, smirk-wearing looks. "What?"

The said it in perfect unison. _"Jealous."_

"I'm serious!" Margaret told them both. "Mordecai hates me now."

"Hey, don't worry." Rigby told his friend. "Mordecai never holds a grudge. He'll get over it."

"But maybe you'd better talk to CJ." Eileen offered. "You just showered her in chocolate."

"Yeah, you're right." Margaret sighed. "I'll see you guys in a minute."

Margaret turned on her heel and headed for the bathrooms, her stomach heavy and her heart wrenched dry.

**Sorry for the short chappie. I've got a lot of school assignments this week. And, honestly, I'm playing Kingdom Hearts...**

**I should be writing longer chapters in a while. We're about 1/2 through the story now, so the final chapter should be coming up in a (long) while.**

**Till then, please review ;)**


	17. Tell Me It's Not Over

Margaret figured that Mordecai had taken CJ somewhere to get washed up. Guests weren't allowed into Pops's house (the only place off limits), so the bathroom there was out of the question. The public bathrooms were out of the questions, too, since neither CJ or Mordecai could enter the opposite gender's bathrooms.

She had wandered to the Fountain, where Mordecai and CJ sat, looking like they had mud-wrestled like maniacs. Mordecai had grabbed some hand-towels (from the kitchen, presumably) and now they were both dipping them in the fountain's pool of water, wringing it until it was simply damp, and wiping themselves clean. Well, their skin, at least. The chocolate on their clothes were stained.

Margaret was just about to walk over and apologize, but she froze, hidden behind a tree, when she heard them speaking.

"I'm really sorry about this, CJ," Mordecai apologized to the cloudy humanoid as he wiped at his left wing roughly.

"It's alright...I guess," CJ replied, scrubbing at her chocolate-coated calf. "This dress was a rental, though."

Mordecai huffed, throwing his wings out in front of him. "Why did she do that? I mean, yeah, I snapped at her, but-"

"Wait, what?" CJ looked up at him.

"It's a long story, but anyway, it's not like I insulted her!" Mordecai said, then paused. "...Too badly."

"Maybe I said something to offend her," CJ said, frowning.

"I doubt it," Mordecai said. After a moment of silence, he sighed. "Maybe I've been too hard on her. First I accuse her of not wanting me to date, and I don't talk to her for a long time, and then I explode at her. I'm overreacting."

"You should just apologize to her, if that's how you feel." CJ told him, and set her hand on his wing.

"I will."

Margaret thought that that moment was _perfect_ to walk out from the bushes. However, just as she took the tiniest step forward.

She noticed how they never let go of each others' hands.

She noticed how they were smiling.

She noticed how they looked at each other.

She noticed how, just like before, they were leaning towards each other.

And for some unexplainable reason, she walked away, feeling as if the entire world was against her.

* * *

"Mordecai?" CJ said just as her and Mordecai's face were inches apart.

"Yeah?"

"...You have chocolate on your beak." She said, pointing to a glob of goo.

"Oh, thanks." Mordecai said, and wiped it off with a wet towel.


	18. Confessions

The party ended one hour after Margaret left. The guests began to walk back to their limousines and Mercedes and whatever the hired valet brought back to them.

It was here that Eileen and Rigby noticed that Margaret was gone. At first they thought that she was simply somewhere else. Then, when they explored the premises and asked the employees for any signs of her, they became worried. After about ten minutes of suggesting and convincing, they settled on the idea that Margaret probably just returned home.

The day after the party, Margaret returned to work a bit later than usual. When Eileen saw her, she new something was up: Margaret was slouching, something she never did, her feathers were ever-so-slightly out of place, and her eyes were bloodshot and bagged, like she had gotten little to no sleep the previous night.

"Hey, Margaret," Eileen called, "What's wrong?"

Margaret didn't say anything, she only gave a almost nonexistent shrug. She simply walked past the counter, grabbing her apron and wrapping it around her. Before she could get to any utensils and such, however, Eileen grabbed her wing and kept her from walking away. "Hey, what's the matter? We were worried about you last night. Why didn't you tell us you were leaving?"

"Something just...came up..." Margaret said.

"What?" Eileen prompted. "You can tell me."

Margaret said nothing.

Eileen paused. "Is it about Mordecai? Or CJ? Or both?"

Margaret groaned. "I just...didn't have the opportunity to talk to them."

"You're lying, and I can tell." Eileen frowned. "Did they yell at you?"

A groan.

"Did they do something to you?"

A groan.

"Did they do something you didn't like? With each other?"

A softer groan.

"Did they...kiss, or something?"

No response.

Eileen jumped a mile high (not literally, but you know what I mean) and gawked. "They KISSED? RIGHT IN _FRONT OF YOU?"_

Margaret gave her a tired look. "Not exactly. I mean, I'm pretty sure they kissed. They were leaning towards each other and that's when I left."

"Why'd you leave the entire party?" Eileen inquired. "Why didn't you just come back to us?"

"I...wasn't feeling good," sighed Margaret.

Eileen paused. "You mean, you weren't feeling good...in _health, _or you weren't feeling good..." she slowed down, "...in self-esteem?"

Hardly a groan.

Eileen gasped for a full fifteen seconds. Then she beamed. "Yoooooou are jealouuuuuuuuuus!"

"I'm not jealous!" Margaret snapped. "I just...don't like the way they look at each other."

"DENIAL! ANOTHER SIGN!"

"I'm not JEALOUS!" Margaret repeated.

"Yeah you are, and you just plainly said so!" Eileen sang. "You don't like them together and you want Mordecai all to yourself and you wanna hold him and marry him and have a dozen purple robin-jay babies~!"

Margaret snapped.

"ALRIGHT, I'M JEALOUS, OK? I DON'T LIKE THEM TOGETHER AND I DON'T LIKE HOW I FEEL! BUT COULD YOU AND RIGBY JUST SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE INSTEAD OF ACTING LIKE ANNOYING LITTLE BRATS?"

There was a silence.

Eileen stood stockstill.

A single tear rolled down her face.

Margaret sighed heavily, knowing she had exploded to much. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just really confused right now, alright?"

Eileen wiped her eyes and smiled. "It's alright. Sorry for bugging you. But you know, you should just tell Mordecai how you feel."

Margaret paused. "What if he yells at me?"

"I'll be right there with you."

Margaret paused again, them smiled. "OK. I'll tell him."


	19. Tell Me

Mordecai looked over at the electronic clock on the table: 10:09. CJ said she would be at the House at 10:15. He had offered to pick her up...before realizing he had no car. CJ said it was no big deal and assured him that she'd just take a bus. Now all he had to do was wait.

He hadn't been able to apologize to Margaret. He had tried to find her after his conversation with CJ, but he couldn't find her. Rigby and Eileen couldn't, either. They had assured him that they would find her. So he went to bed, assuring himself that he'd apologize to her the next day.

And also after he and CJ went to the bowling alley...

No sooner had the clock changed to 10:15 than CJ had walked through the doorway, dressed in a red tank top, jeans, and converse. She smiled at him, and he felt his stomach do something weird. "Hey, Mordo."

"Hey, CJ," he smiled, "Sorry I couldn't pick you up. I can pay you back for the bus fee."

"Nah, don't worry about it," CJ shook her head, "It wasn't much. Anyways, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Mordecai said, about to open the door for her.

"Hey, Mordecai?"

Mordecai turned to a serious-looking CJ. "Yeah?"

"Are we like...are we...you know...dating? I mean, we're boyfriend and girlfriend, right?"

Mordecai didn't even get the chance to answer. At that exact moment, a voice spoke out from right in front of him.

"Mordecai?"

Margaret was standing right in the doorway.

**OK, I know this is a ridiculously short chapter, but I'll tell you why in the next chappie-message-announcement-thingiemajigger.**


	20. ANNOUNCEMENT

**ATTENTION! IF YOU LIKE/LOVE THIS STORY, YOU NEED TO READ THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT!**

Yes, sadly, our story is coming to an end. The previous chapter was so short because it had to lead up to the last chapter:

You, the reader, will choose the canon ending for the last chapter of the story. Here's how:

1. PM me your answer. It only has to be one word: 'Margaret' or 'CJ.' Do not put your answer in your review.

**I REPEAT: **_**DO **__**NOT**__** PUT YOUR ANSWER IN YOUR REVIEW!**_

2. Await the final chapter.

YOU HAVE ONE WEEK TO VOTE FOR THE FINAL CHAPTER. THE FINAL CHAPTER WILL BE POSTED ON THE 19TH OF FEBRUARY!

See you soon, mis amigos!


	21. Love, Oh Love

"Margaret? What are you doing here? Mordecai asked.

Margaret was frozen in place. Mordecai and CJ really WERE dating. Or at least, that's how it sounded. Behind her, Eileen poked her head out from behind the dumbstruck robin. "Is everything alright?"

"Hey, Mordecai, I-" Rigby came down the stairs at that exact moment. Seeing everyone surprised and frozen, he asked, "Is everything alright?"

Eileen and Rigby realized the situation at the exact same time. "Oooooooh..."

"You guys are...dating now?" Margaret asked. She had seen them almost kiss, but maybe they didn't. But now...they were officially dating? Boyfriend and girlfriend?

She was too late...?

"Uh..." Mordecai paused. "Well, I guess so..."

"You guess so?" CJ sounded confused. "I thought we were dating?"

"Well, I mean, yeah, we are!" Mordecai insisted.

"You are?!" Margaret said.

"CAN I JUST GET SOME SPACE HERE?" Mordecai yelled.

It was silent for a long moment. Mordecai took deep breaths. If he said he and CJ were dating, Margaret would freak out. If he said he wasn't, then CJ would freak out.

CJ had waited long enough. "Listen, Mordecai. Either you're dating me or your not. Choose."

Mordecai's eyes darted between CJ and Margaret.

"I..."

**CLIFFY! HAHAHAHAHAHA! **

**Due to a very tight schedule today, I'm going to post the final chapter tomorrow. **

**And to all of you who were really waiting for the chapter today:**

***trollface***


	22. Ho Hey

"I...CJ, we are dating."

CJ sighed in relief. Mordecai looked over at Margaret, who was staring at him with so much sadness and disappointment he felt a part of him die. "Margaret, listen. I'm sorry for yelling at you last night. But me and CJ _are _dating. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I like her. A lot."

All was silent for a long moment. The tension was so thick that it became harder to breath in the room. Margaret sighed. "It's alright. I'm fine."

Mordecai sighed in relief.

"Well, let's go, dude!" CJ suddenly clamped a hand down on Mordecai's wing and pulled him through the doorway, past Margaret and Eileen. In no time at all, they were on the awaiting bus. The only other passenger was a sleeping man in the fourth road. CJ tossed the driver a wad of bills and pushed her and Mordecai into the back-left seat.

"Hey, CJ," Mordecai turned to the cloudy humanoid. "I'm sorry about hesita-"

He was cut off by CJ kissing him full on the beak.

Afterwards, CJ set her head on his shoulder. "Forget about it."

All Mordecai could do was laugh, his face as red as a tomato.

* * *

"Hey, guys, we found a beehive around the petting zoo yesterday! LET'S GO THROW ROCKS AT IT!" Rigby called, and darted out of the livng room, through the kitchen, and outside.

"WAHOO!" Eileen was just about to run after him, when she froze in her tracks. "Margaret?"

Margaret didn't say anything. She had her back to her friend, staring after the bus.

"Hey," Eileen put a hand on her friend's wing. "Are you OK?"

Margaret paused for a long moment. Then, she turned to her friend, smiling sadly. "Not right now. But I'll be fine."

Because Mordecai was happy. And that was all that mattered.

**CJ: 19**  
**Margaret: 14**

**Aaaaaand...that's it! Thanks for the support, folks!  
**


End file.
